Groupthink in Leadership

Leaders rarely make decisions in a single notion. Decisions are constantly made in groups on a regularly such as board and staff meetings. Sometimes decisions must be made in a short period-of-time which can lead to members of the group conforming to other members’ opinions. This is an example of groupthink. The social impact within a group of leaders has a strong influence on what decisions are made therefore, a member of the group may remain silent because they believe their opinion will not be heard because the leader has the final word. An example of groupthink within leadership is during a board meeting the senior leader of the company tries to convince the board of making a change and the board is allowing one person to speak while none of the other members are speaking their opinions. Groupthink occurs when the dynamics of the group are strong and diverse and no one wants to stand out as the “bad” person, therefore the best decision is not made.